iNb 


E 

4-S1 


EULOGY 


DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE 


CITY  COUNCIL  AND  CITIZENS  OF  LOWELL, 


git  Duntingicm  fall,  §Lpril  I9tfe,  186o, 


V     HON.     ( r  K  (.)  U  (I  E     S.  JB  0  I   T  \V  ELI, 


PUBLISHED  BY  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 


LOWELL: 

TONK  &  IIUSE,  TKINTERS,  COURIER  OFFICE.  21  CENTRAL  STREET. 

1865. 


EULOGY 


ON  THE 


DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE 


CITY  COUNCIL  AND  CITIZENS  OF  LOWELL, 


$ unfhtgioit  Kail,  &pril  I9ift,  1865, 


BY    HON.     GEORGE     S.     BOUTWELL. 


PUBLISHED  BY  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 


LOWELL: 

STONE  &  HUSE,  PRINTERS,  COURIER  OFFICE,  21  CENTRAL  STREET. 

1865. 


-ft*. 


&IFT 


.2 


EULOGY. 


THE  nation  is  bowed  down  to-day  under  the  weight  of 
a  solemn  and  appalling  sorrow,  such  as  never  before  rested 
upon  a  great  people.  It  is  not  the  presence  of  death 
merely , — with  that  we  have  become  familiar.  It  is  not  the 
loss  of  a  leader  only  that  we  mourn,  nor  of  a  statesman  who 
had  exhibited  wisdom  in  great  trials,  in  vast  enterprises  of 
war,  and  in  delicate  negotiations  for  the  preservation  of 
peace  with  foreign  countries;  but  of  a  twice  chosen  and 
twice  ordained  ruler  in  whom  these  great  qualities  .were 
found,  and  to  which  were  added  the  personal  courage  of  the 
soldier  and  the  moral  heroism  of  the  Christian. 

Judged  by  this  generation  in  other  lands,  and  by  other 
generations  in  future  times,  Abraham  Lincoln  will  be  es- 
teemed as  the  wisest  of  rulers  and  the  most  fortunate  of 
men.  To  him  and  to  his  fame  the  manner  of  his  death  is 
nothing ;  to  the  country  and  to  the  whole  civilized  family  of 
man  it  is  the  most  appalling  of  tragical  events.  The  rising 
sun  of  the  day  following  that  night  of  unexampled  crime 
revealed  to  us  the  nation's  loss;  but,  stunned  by  the  shock, 
the  people  were  unable  to  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the 
calamity.  As  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  glided  into 
the  calm  twilight  of  evening,  the  continent  was  stilled  into 
silence  by  its  horror  of  the  crime  and  its  sense  of  the  great- 
ness of  the  loss  sustained. 

(2816650 


If  we  believe  reverently  that  God  guided  his  chosen 
people  in  ancient  times,  that  He  was  with  our  fathers  in  their 
struggle  for  independence,  we  are  likely  also  to  believe  that 
in  the  events  transpiring  in  this  country  the  Ruler  of  all  the 
earth  makes  his  ways  known  to  men  in  an  unusual  manner 
and  to  an  unusual  extent.  If  God  rules,  then  are  not  all 
men,  even  in  their  imperfections  and  sins,  in  some  mysterious 
way  and  under  peculiar  circumstances  the  doers  of  His  will  ? 
To  the  human  eye  Abraham  Lincoln  seems  to  have  been 
specially  designated  by  Divine  Providence  for  the  perform- 
ance of  a  great  work.  His  origin  was  humble,  his  means  of 
education  stinted.  He  was  without  wealth,  and  he  did  not 
enjoy  the  Support  of  influential  friends.  Much  the  larger 
part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  private  pursuits,  and  he  never 
exhibited  even  the  common  human  desire  for  public  employ- 
ment, leadership  and  fame.  His  ambition  concerning  the 
great  office  that  he  held  was  fully  satisfied ;  and  the  triumph 
of  his  moderate  and  reasonable  expectations  was  not  even 
marred  by  the  untimely  and  bloody  hand  of  the  assassin. 
During  the  canvass  of  1864  and  with  the  modesty  of  a  child 
he  said,  "  I  cannot  say  that  I  wish  to  perform  the  duties  of 
President  for  four  years  more ;  but  I  should  be  gratified  by 
the  approval  of  the  people  of  what  I  have  done."  This  he 
received  ;  and  however  precious  it  may  have  been  to  him,  it 
is  a  more  precious  memory  to  the  people  themselves. 

His  public  life  was  embraced  in  the  period  of  about  six 
years.  This  statement  does  not  include  his  brief  service  in 
the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  nor  his  service  as  a 
subordinate  officer  in  one  of  the  frontier  Indian  wars,  nor  his 
single  term  of  service  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of 


the  United  States  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  In  none  of 
these  places  did  he  attract  the  attention  of  the  country,  nor 
did  the  experience  acquired  fit  him  specially  for  the  great 
duties  to  ;vvhich  he  was  called  finally.  He  was  nearly  fifty 
years  of  age  when  he  entered  upon  the  contest,  henceforth 
historical,  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate  from  the  State  of  Illinois. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  his  public  life,  and  from  that 
time  forward  he  gained  and  grew  in  the  estimation  of  his 
countrymen.  At  the  moment  of  his  death  he  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  all  loyal  men,  including  those  even  who  did 
not  openly  give  him  their  support ;  and  there  were  many, 
possibly  in  them  it  was  a  sin,  who  came  at  last  to  regard  him 
as  a  Divinely  appointed  leader  'of  the  people.  The  speeches 
which  he  delivered  in  that  contest  are  faithful  exponents  of 
his  character,  his  principles,  and  his  capacity.  His  state- 
ments of  opinion  are  clear  and  unequivocal ;  his  reasoning 
was  logical  and  harmonious ;  and  his  principles,  as  then 
expressed,  were  consonant  with  the  declaration  subsequently 
made,"  that  each  man  has  the  right  by  nature  to  be  the  equal 
politically  of  any  other  man."  He  was  then,  as  ever,  chary 
of  predictions  concerning  the  future;  but  it -was  in  his  open- 
ing speech  that  he  declared  his  conviction,  which  was  in  truth 
a  prophecy,  that  this  nation  could  not  remain  permanently 
half  slave  and  half  free. 

In  that  long  and  arduous  contest  with  one  of  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  country,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  no  remark  which 
he  was  unable  to  defend,  nor  could  he,  by  any  force  of  argu- 
ment, be  driven  from  a  position  that  he  had  taken.  It  was 
then  that  those  who  heard  or  read  the  debate  observed  the 
richness  of  his  nature  in  mirth  and  wit  which  charmed  his 


6 


friends  without  wounding  his  opponents,  and  which  he  used 
with  wonderful  sagacity  in  illustrating  his  own  arguments,  or 
in  weakening,  or  even  at  times  in  overthrowing  the  argu- 
ments of  his  antagonist.  And  yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
for  many  years,  if  not  from  his  very  youth,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
a  melancholy  man.  He  seemed  to  bear  about  with  him  the 
weight  of  coming  cares,  and  to  sit  in  gloom  as  though  his 
path  of  life  was  darkened  by  an  unwelcome  shadow.  His 
fondness  for  story  and  love  for  mirth  were  the  compensation 
which  nature  gave.  * 

In  the  midst  of  overburdening  cares  these  characteris- 
tics were  a  daily  relief;  and  yet  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  he 
often  used  an  appropriate  story  as  a  means  of  foiling  a  too 
inquisitive  visitor,  or  of  changing  or  ending  a  conversation 
which  he  did  not  desire  to  pursue. 

During  the  first  French  revolution,  when  the  streets  of 
Paris  were  stained  with  human  blood,  the  inhabitants,  women 
and  men,  flocked  to  places  of  amusement.  To  the  mass  of 
mankind,  and  especially  to  the  inexperienced,  this  conduct 
appears  frivolous,  or  as  the  exhibition  of  a  criminal  indiffer- 
ence to  the  miseries  of  individuals  and  the  calamities  of  the 
public.  But  such  are  the  horrors, of  war,  the  pressure  of 
responsibility,  that  men  often  seek  refuge  and  relief  in 
amusements,  from  which  in  ordinary  times  they  would  turn 
aside. 

In  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches  of  1858  there  are  passages 
which  suggest  to  the  mind  the  classic  models  of  ancient 
days,  although  they  do  not  in  any  proper  sense  rise  to  an 
equality  with  them.  His  style  of  writing  was  as  simple  as 
were  his  own  habits  and  manners;  and  no  person  ever 


excelled  him  in  clearness  of  expression.  Hence  he  was 
understood  and  appreciated  by  all  classes.  The  Proclama- 
tion of  Emancipation,  his  address  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  and  his  touching  letter  to  the 
widowed  mother  who  had  given  five  sons  to  the  country,  are 
memorable  as  evidences  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  greatr 
ness. 

His  speeches  of  1858  are  marked  for  the  precision  with 
which  he  stated  his  own  positions,  and  for  the  firmness  exhib- 
ited whenever  his  opponent  endeavored  to  worry  him  from 
his  chosen  ground,  or  by  artifice,  or  argument,  or  persuasion, 
to  induce  him  to  advance  a  step  beyond. 

His  administration,  as  far  as  he  himself  was  concerned, 
was  inaugurated  upon  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  the 
great  debate.  He  recognized  the  obligation  to  return  fugi- 
tives from  slavery,  and  it  was  no  part  of  his  purpose  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  existed.  It 
must  remain  for  the  historian  and  the  biographer,  who  may 
have  access  to  private  and  personal  sources  of  knowledge,  to 
inform  the  country  and  the  world  how  far  Mr.  Lincoln,  when 
he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  President,  comprehended  the 
magnitude  of  the  struggle  in  which  the  nation  was  about  to 
engage. 

The  circumstance  that  his  first  call  for  volunteers  was 
for  seventy-five  thousand  men  only,  is  not  valuable  as  evi- 
dence one  way  or  the  other.  The  number  was  quite  equal 
to  our  supply  of  arms  and  materials  of  war,  and  altogether 
too  vast  for  the  experience  of  the  men  then  at  the  head  of 
military  affairs.  The  number  was  sufficient  to  show  his 
purpose  ; — the  purpose  to  which  he  adhered  through  all  the 


8 


trials  and  vicissitudes  of -this  eventful  contest.  His  purpose 
was  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  both  as  a  civil  organi- 
zation and  as  an  armed  military  force,  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  authority  of  the  United  States  over  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Union.  There  yet  remain  in  the.  minds  of  men 
who  were  acquainted  with  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1861,  the  recollection  of  expressions  made  by 
him,  which  indicate  that  there  were  then  vague  thoughts  in 
his  mind  that  it  might  be  his  Jot  under  Providence  to  bring 
the  slaves  of  the  country  out  of  their  bondage.  But  how- 
ever this  may  have  been,  he  never  deviated  from  his  purpose 
to  suppress  the  rebellion ;  and  he  conscientiously  applied  the 
means  at  his  command  to  the  attainment  of  that  end.  Thus 
step  by  step  he  advanced,  until  in  his  own  judgment,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  country,  and  of  the  best  portion  of  mankind 
in  other  civilized  nations,  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  was 
a  necessary  means  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  insensible  to  the  justice  of  emancipa- 
tion ;  he  saw  its  wisdom  as  a  measure  of  public  policy ;  but 
he  delayed  the  proclamation  until  he  was  fully  convinced 
that  it  offered  the  only  chance  of  averting  a  foreign  war, 
suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  restoring  the  Union  of  the 
States. 

In  the  great  struggle  of  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  exhibited  a 
two-fold  character.  He  was  personally  the  enemy  of  slavery, 
and  he  ardently  desired  its  abolition ;  but  he  also  regarded 
his  oath  of  office,  and  steadily  refused  to  recognize  the 
existence  of  any  right  to  proclaim  emancipation  while  other 
means  of  saving  the  republic  remained.  He  sought  the 
path  of  duty  and  he  walked  fearlessly  in  it.  Until  he  was 


satisfied  of  the  necessity  of  emancipation,  no  earthly  power 
could  have  led  him  to  issue  the  proclamation ;  and  after  its 
issue  no  earthly  power  could  have  induced  him  to  retract  or 
to  qualify  it.  When  an  effort  was  made  to  pursuade  him  to 
qualify  the  proclamation,  he  said,  in  reference  to  the  blacks, 
"  My  word  is  out  to  these  people,  and  I  can't  take  it  back." 

It  has  been  common  in  representative  governments  for 
men  to  be  advanced  to  great  positions  without  any  sufficient 
evidence  existing  of  their  ability  to  perform  the  correspond- 
ing duties,  and  it  has  often  happened  that  the  occupant  has 
not  been  elevated,  while  the  office  has  been  sadly  degraded. 
It  was  observed  by  those  who  visited  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  day 
following  his  nomination  at  Chicago  in  June,  1860,  that  he 
would  prove,  in  the  event  of  his  election,  either  a  great  suc- 
cess or  a  great  failure. 

This  prediction  was  based  upon  the  single  fact  that  he 
was  different  from  ordinary  men,  and  it  did  not  contain,  as 
an  element  of  the  opinion,  any  knowledge  of  his  peculiar 
characteristics.  History  will  accept  the  first  branch  of  the 
alternative  opinion,  and  pronounce  his  administration  a  great 
success.  To  this  success  Mr.  Lincoln  most  largely  contri- 
buted, and  this  in  spite  of  peculiarities  which  appeared  to 
amount  to  defects  in  a  great  ruler  in  troublous  times. 

Never  were  words  uttered  which  contained  less  truth 
than  those  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  assassin,  sic  semper 
fyrannis,  as  he  passed,  in  the  presence  of  an  excited  and 
bewildered  crowd,  from  the  spot  where  he  had  committed 
the  foulest  of  murders  to  the  stage  of  the  theatre  from 
whence  he  made  his  escape. 

Mr.  Lincoln  exercised  power  with  positive  reluctance 


10 


and  unfeigned  distaste.  He  shrunk  from  the  exhibition  of 
any  authority  that  was  oppressive,  harsh,  or  even  disagree- 
able to  a  human  being.  He  passed  an  entire  night  in  anxious 
thought  and  prayerful  deliberation,  before  he  could  sanction 
the  execution  of  Gordon,  the  slave-dealer,  although  he  had 
been  tried,  found  guilty,  and  ,  sentenced  to  death.  There 

is   but  little   doubt,  such  was   the   kindness    of  Mr.   Lin- 

* 

coin's  nature,  that  he  desired  to  close  the  war,  and  restore 
the  Union,  without  exacting  the  forfeit  of  a  single  life  as  a 
punishment  for  the  great  crime  of  which  the  leaders  in  this 
rebellion  are  guilty. 

Could  this  liberal  policy  have  been  carried  out,  it  would 
have  been  the  theme  of  perpetual  eulogy,  and  its  author 
would  have  received  the  acclamation  of  all  races  and  classes 
of  men. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  in  his  nature,  or  in  the  habits  of 
his  life,  any  element  or  feature  of  tyranny.  He  had  no  love 
of  power  for  the  sake  of  power.  He  preferred  that  every 
man  should  act  as  might  seem  to  him  best ;  and  when  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  was  called  to  enforce  penal- 
ties, or  even  to  remove  men  from  place,  he  suffered  more 
usually  than  did  the  subjects  of  his  authority.  It  is  easy 
to  understand  that  this  peculiarity  was  sometimes  an  obsta- 
cle to  the  vigorous  administration  of  affairs.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  it  must  have  happened  occasionally  that  these 
delays  led  to  a  better  judgment  in  the  end. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  expression,  an 
industrious  man.  Whatever  he  examined,  he  examined  care- 
fully and  thoroughly.  His  patience  was  unlimited.  He 
listened  attentively  to  advice,  though  it  is  probable  that  he 


11 


seldom  asked  it.  For  nearly  fifty  years  before  he  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  President  he  had  relied  upon  himself  5 
and  it  is  said  that  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  he  never 
sought  opinions  or  suggestions  from  his  brethren,  except  as 
they  were  associated  with  him  in  particular  cause's.  He  had 
the  acuteness  of  the  lawyer  and  the  fairness  of  the  judge. 
The  case  must  be  intricate  indeed  which  he  did  not  easily 
analyze  so  as  to  distinguish  and  estimate  whatever  was 
meritorious  or  otherwise  in  it.  He  saw  also  through  the 
motives  of  men.  He  easily  fathomed  those  around  him,  and 
acted  in  the  end  as  though  he  understood  their  dispositions 
towards  himself. 

He  appeared  to  possess  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  the 
opinions  and  purposes  of  the  people.  His  sense  of  justice 
was  exact,  and  if  he  ever  failed  to  be  guided  by  it,  the 
departure  was  due  to  the  kindness  of  his  nature,  which 
always  prompted  him  to  look  with  the  compassion  of  a  parent 
upon  the  unfortunate, — the  guilty  as  well  as  the  innocent- 
He  Was  cautious  in  forming  opinions,  and  disinclined  to  dis- 
close his  purposes  until  the  moment  of  action  arrived.  He 
examined  every  subject  of  importance  with  conscientious 
care ;  his  conclusions  were  formed  under  a  solemn  sense  of 
duty  ;  and  while  that  sense  of  duty  remained  he  was  firm 
in  resisting  all  counter  influences.  In  unimportant  matters, 
not  involving  principles  or  the  character  of  his  public  policy, 
he  yielded  readily  to  the  wishes  of  those  around  him;  and 
thus  they  who  knew  him  or  heard  of  him  in  these  relations 
only  were  misled  as  to  his  true  character. 

No  magistrate  or  ruler  ever  labored  more  zealously  to 
place  his  measures  and  policy  upon  the  sure  foundation  of 


12 


right;  and  no  magistrate  or  ruler  ever  adhered  to  his  meas- 
ures and  policy  with  more  firmness  as  long  as  he  felt  sure  of 
the  foundation.  His  last  public  address  is  a  memorable 
illustration  of  these  traits  of  character. 

The  charmed  cord  by  which  he  attached  all  to  him  who 
enjoyed  his  acquaintance  even  in  the  slighest  degree,  was 
the  absence  of  all  pretension  in  manners,  conversation  or 
personal  appearance.  This  was  not  humility,  either  real  or 
assumed ;  but  it  was  due  to  an  innate  and  ever  present  con- 
sciousness of  the  equality  of  men.  He  accorded  to  every 
one  who  approached  him,  whatever  his  business  or  station  in 
life,  such  hearing  and  ,  attention  as  circumstances  permitted. 
For  himself  he  asked  nothing  of  the  nature  of  personal  con- 
sideration. In  the  multiplicity  of  his  cares,  in  his  daily 
attention  to  cases  touching  the  reputation  and  rights  of 
humble  and  unknown  men,  in  the  patience  with  which  he 
listened  to  the  narratives  of  heart-broken  women,  whose 
husbands,  or  sons,  or  brothers  had  fallen  under  arrest  or  into 
disgrace  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  country,  he 
was  indeed  the  servant  and  the  friend  of  all. 

The  inexorable  rules  of  military  discipline  were  some- 
times disregarded  by  him ;  he  sought  to  make  an  open  way 
for  justice  through  the  forms  and  technicalities  of  courts 
martial,  bureaus  and  departments ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  public  service  may  have  received  detriment  occa- 
sionally by  the  too  free  use  of  the  power  to  pardon  and  to 
restore.  But  the  nation  could  well  afford  the  indulgence  of 
his  over-kind  nature  in  these  particulars,  for  by  this  kind- 
ness of  nature  he  drew  the  people  to  him,  and  thus  opinions 


13 


were  harmonized,  the  republic  was  strengthened,  and  the 
power  of  its  enemies  sensibly  diminished. 

Mr.  Lincoln  never  despaired  of  the  republic.  During 
the  dark  days  of  July,  August,  and  September,  1862,  he 
was  not  dismayed  by  the  disasters  which  befel  our  arms. 
His  confidence  was  not  in  our  military  strength  alone ;  he 
looked  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts  for  the  final  delivery  of  the 
people. 

Following  this  attempt  to  analyze  Mr.  Lincoln's  intel- 
lectual and  moral  character,  it  remains  to  be  said,  that  neither 
this  analysis  nor  the  statements  with  which  it  is  connected, 
furnish  any  just  idea  of  the  man.  He  was  more,  he  was 
greater,  he  was  wiser,  he  was  better  than  the  ideal  man 
which  we  should  be  authorized  to  create  from  the -qualities 
disclosed  by  the  analysis.  And  so  possibly  there  will  ever 
remain  an  apparent  dissimilitude  between  the  appreciable 
individual  qualities  of  the  man  and  the  man  himself. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  wise  man,  but  he  had  not  the  wisdom 
of  the  ancient  philosophers,  who  declared  it  to  be  the  knowl- 
edge of  things  both  divine  and  human,  together  with  the 
causes  on  which  they  depend  ;  but  he  was  rather  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  proverb  of  Solomon : — "  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
the  instruction  of  wisdom/'  . 

Mr.  Lincoln  must  ever  be  named  among  the  great  per- 
sonages of  history.  He  will  be  contrasted  rather  than  com- 
pared with  those  with  whom  he  is  thus  to  be  associated  ;  and 
when  compared  with  any,  he  is  most  likely  to  be  compared 
with  the  Father  of  his  Country.  If  this  be  so,  then  his  rank 
is  already  fixed  and  secure.  In  many  particulars  he  differs 
from  other  great  men.  When  his  important  public  services 


14 


began  he  was  more  than  fifty  years  of  age,  while  Cromwell 
was  only  forty  years  old  when  called  from  retirement,  and 
most  eminent  men  in  civil  and  military  life  have  been  dis- 
tinguished at  an  earlier  age.  He  had  no  military  experience 
or  military  fame.  He  was  taken  from  private  life  and  advanced 
to  the  Presidency  upon  a  pure  question  or  declaration  of 
public  policy-^the  non-extension  of  slavery.  He  entered 
upon  his  great  office  in  the  presence  of  assassins  and  traitors, 
and  from  that  day  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  dwelt  in  their 
presence  and  faithfully  performed  his  duties.  He  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  republic  in  the  most  perilous  of  times.  In  the 
short  period  of  four  years  he  called  three  millions  of  men  into 
the  military  service  of  his  country.  During  his  administration 
a  rebellion,  in  which  eleven  States  and  six  millions  of  people 
were  involved,  was  effectually  overthrown.  But  the  great 
act  which  secures  to  his  name  all  the  immortality  which  earth 
can  bestow,  is  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  The 
knowledge  of  that  deed  can  never  die.  On  this  continent  it 
will  be  associated  with  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
with  that  alone.  One  made  a  nation  independent,  the  other 
made  a  race  free. 

There  are  four  million  of  people  in  this  country  who 
now  regard  Abraham  Lincoln  as  their  deliverer  from  bond- 
age, and  whose  posterity,  through  all  the  coming  centuries, 
will  render  tribute  of  praise  to  his  name  and  memory.  But 
his  fame  in  connection  with  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipa- 
tion will  not  be  left  to  the  care  of  those  who  have  been  the 
recipients  of  the  boon  of  freedom.  The  white  people  of  the 
South  will  yet  rejoice  in  the  knowledge  of  their  own  deliv- 
erance through  this  gift  to  the  now  despised  colored  man. 


15 


And  finally,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Amer- 
ican continent,  together  with  the  whole  family  of  civilized 
man,  shall  join  in  honors  to  the  memory  of  him  who  freed  a 
race  and  saved  a  nation. 

What  fame  that  is  human  merely  can  be  more  secure  ? 
What  glory  that  is  of  earth  can  be  more  enduring  ?  What 
deed  for  good  can  be  more  wide  spread  ? 

The  knowledge  aad  influence  of  the  great  act  of  his 
life  will  extend  to  every  continent  and  to  all  races.  It  will 
advance  with  civilization  into  Africa ;  it  will  shake  and 
finally  overthrow  slavery  in  the  dominions  of  Spain  and  in 
the  Empire  of  Brazil;  and  at  last,  in  that  it  saved  a  republic 
and  perpetuated  a  free  representative  government  as  an 
example  and  model  for  mankind,  it  will  undermine  the  mon- 
archical, aristocratic  and  despotic  institutions  of  Europe  and 
Asia. 

What  fame  that  is  human  merely  can  le  more  secure  ? 
What  glory  that  is  of  earth  can  be  more  enduring  ?  What 
deed  for  good  can  le  more  wide  spread  ? 

Yet  this  great  act  of  his  life  rested  on  a  foundation  on 
which  all  may  stand.  In  the  place  where  he  was,  he  did 
that  which,  in  his  judgment,  duty  to  his  country  and  to  his 
God  required.  This  is  indeed  his  highest  praise,  and  the 
only  eulogy  that  his  life  demands. 

That  he  had  greater  opportunities  than  other  men  was 
his  responsibility  and  burden ;  that  he  used  his  great  oppor- 
tunities for  the  preservation  of  his  country  and  the  relief  of 
the  oppressed  is  his  own  glory. 


16 


Had  Mr.  Lincoln  been  permitted  to  reach  the  age 
attained  by  Jefferson  and  Adams,  his  death  would  have  pro- 
duced a  profound  impression  upon  his  countrymen. 

Had  he  now  in  the  opening  months  of  his  second  admin- 
istration fallen  by  accident  or  yielded  to 'disease,  the  nation 
would  have  been  bowed  down  in  inexpressible  grief.  Every 
loyal  heart  would  have  been  burdened  with  a  weight  of  sor- 
row, and  every  loyal  household  would  have  felt  as  though 
a  place  had  been  made  vacant  at  its  own  hearth-stone. 

That  he  has  now  fallen  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  is 
in  itself  a  horror  too  appalling  for  contemplation.  Had  the 
deed  been  committed  in  ancient  Greece  or  Rome  we  could 
not  now  read  the  historian's  record  without  a  shudder  and  a 
tear.  All  those  qualities  in  the  illustrious  victim  which  we 
cherish  were  spurs  ever  goading  the  conspirators  on  to  the 
consummation  of  their  crime. 

His  love  of  country  and  of  liberty,  his  devotion  to 
duty,  his  firmness  and  persistency  in  the  right,  his  kindness 
of  heart  and  his  spirit  of  mercy  were  all  reasons  or  induce- 
ments influencing  the  purposes  of  the  conspirators.  Neither 
greatness  nor  goodness  was  a  shield.  Had  he  been  greater 
and  better  and  wiser  than  he  was  his  fate  would  have  been 
the  same. 

In  this  hour  of  calamity  let  not  the  thirst  for  ven- 
geance take  possession  of  our  souls.  But  justice  should  be 
done.  The  circle  of  conspirators  is  already  broken  and 
entered  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  and  mankind  will  finally 
be  permitted  to  see  who  were  the  authors  and  who  the  per- 
petrators of  this  great  crime.  For  the  members  of  this 
circle,  whether  it  be  small  or  large,  and  whomsoever  it  may 


17 


include,  there  should  be  neither  compassion  nor  mercy,  but 
justice  and  only  justice.  Judged  as  men  judge,  this  crime 
is  too  great  for  pardon.  The  criminals  can  find  no  protec- 
tion or  harbor  in  any  civilized  country.  Let  the  government 
pursue  them  with  its  full  power  until  the  last  one  disappears 
from  earth.  Vex  every  sea,  visit  every  island,  traverse  every 
continent,  let  there  be  no  abiding  place  for  these  criminals 
between  the  Arctic  seas  and  the  Antarctic  pole. 

This  justice  demands  as  she  sits  in  judgment  upon  this 
unparalleled  crime. 

One  duty  and  one  consolation  remain.  He  who  de- 
stroyed slavery  was  himself  by  slavery  destroyed.  Who- 
ever the  assassin,  and  however  numerous  the  conspirators, 
love  of  slavery  was  the  evil  spirit  which  had  entered  into 
these  men  and  taken  possession  of  them.  Slavery  is  the 
source  and  fountain  of  the  crime,  and  all  they  who  have  given 
their  support  to  slavery  are  in  some  degree  responsible  for 
the  awful  deed.  Let,  then,  the  nation  purify  itself  from  this 
the  foulest  of  sins.  And  this  is  our  duty. 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  permitted 
to  do  more  than  any  other  man  of  this  century  for  his  coun- 
try, for  liberty,  and  for  mankind.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  dead,  but 
the  nation  lives,  and  the  Providence  of  God  ever  continues. 
No  single  life  was  ever  yet  essential  to  the  life  of  a  nation. 
This  is  our  consolation  and  ground  for  confidence  in  the 
future. 


Mth  President  of  the  United  8U.U-, 


ORDER   OF    SERVICES, 

AT  HUNTINGDON  HALL, 


1     SINGING  BY  THE  CHOIR- 
2'.    READING  THE 
8.    PRAYER 


Rev.  G.  N.  Webber. 

.Rev.  G.  N.  Webber. 

'.ReadbyRev.S.F.Upham. 


5.  EULOGY. 

6.  PRAYER 

7. 


.Rev.  G.  F.  Warren. 


8.    BENEDICTION 


COURIER 


